Jimmy Page On Led Zeppelin: “I Wanted Artistic Control In A Vice Grip!”

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Brad Tolinski, the Editorial Director of Guitar World, Guitar Aficionado and Revolver has interviewed the press-shy Jimmy Page more than any other journalist. And now, he’s preparing to release a collection of those interviews in one volume, Light And Shade: Conversations With Jimmy Page. Here’s the first in a series of excerpts of the book given exclusively to CBS Local.

In this quote, Page discusses his early vision for the band. After spending years as a session musician (playing on records for The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, Brenda Lee and Petula Clark, among others), and as a member of The Yardbirds, he had a plan to lead Led Zeppelin, to get the band complete creative control and to make sure they wouldn’t be in financial debt to their record label.

“I wanted artistic control in a vice grip, because I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the band. In fact, I financed and completely recorded the first album before going to Atlantic. It wasn’t your typical story where you get an advance to make an album—we arrived at Atlantic with tapes in hand. The other advantage to having such a clear vision of what I wanted the band to be was that it kept recording costs to a minimum. We recorded the whole first album in a matter of 30 hours. That’s the truth. I know, because I paid the bill. [laughs]”

Light And Shade: Conversations With Jimmy Page comes out October 23. Meanwhile, Led Zeppelin is the subject of much speculation among rock fans: they’ve been counting down to something on their Facebook page for the past few days, leading many to believe they are making a big announcement later this week.